The Buckle, Inc (BKE) reported 2.5% increase in its comparable-store sales (comps) for the five-week period ended Jan 3, 2015 after reporting negative comps for the past two months. Comps for October and November were down 4.4% and 1%, respectively.
Further, Buckle’s net sales for the month totaled $190.6 million, registering 5.4% growth from the prior-year five-week period ended Jan 4, 2014.
This holiday season has turned out to be a good one for most retailers. Falling oil prices have led to a spurt in consumer spending helping retailers to close the season on a high note.
Other than Buckle, retailers like The Gap, Inc. (GPS), Zumiez, Inc. (ZUMZ) and J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP) posted impressive holiday sales report. Gap’s comps grew 3% for November and December (nine-weeks ended Jan 3, 2015), while Zumiez reported an 8% rise in comps for the five weeks ended Jan 3, 2015. J. C. Penney reported an increase of 3.7% in its comps for the combined nine weeks of November and December 2014.
Coming back to Buckle, sales in Buckle’s Men's category rose 10.5% year over year, mainly driven by strong performance of denim, casual bottoms, woven shirts and accessories. The Men's category contributed nearly 49% to December sales. Sales in the Women’s category grew 1.5% year over year, while contributing 51% to the month’s sale.
Buckle, which holds a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), has particularly been suffering from persistent weakness in the Women’s category, which is taking the shine off its healthy Men’s and accessories business.
On a combined basis, accessories sales which constituted nearly 10% of December’s net sales increased 4.5%, while footwear sales which constituted nearly 5% of the net sales increased 13%.
Comps for the 48-week period also decreased 0.1% whereas net sales for the same period increased 2.2% to $1.094 billion.
As of Jan 8, 2015, Buckle operated 463 retail stores across 44 states.
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